1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming device, such as a copier or a printer or the like, which employs an electrophotographic method, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a charging device and cleaning device used in an image forming device.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, devices utilizing corona discharge development, such as scorotron chargers, have been used as charging devices of image forming devices such as copiers or printers or the like which employ an electrophotographic method. However, in the case of a charging device which uses corona discharge development, the generating of ozone and nitrogen oxides, which adversely affect human bodies and the global environment, is problematic. In contrast, with a contact-charging method which carries out charging of an image carrier by causing an electrically-conductive charging roller to directly contact an image carrier, the generating of ozone and nitrogen oxides is greatly decreased, and the power efficiency thereof is also good. Therefore, the contact-charging type method has become the mainstream method recently.